Carpet-cleaning machine.



' PATENTED JAN. 29, 1907.

L. B. COBB.

CARPET CLEANING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

No. 842,385. I I PATENTED JAN. 29, 1907. L. B. COBB.

CARPET CLEANING MACHINE.

APYLIOATION FILED mm. 16, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNIT D STATES rATEnT OFF-Ion.-

.IJEANDER COBB, OF STONEHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSlGNOR TO AMER- ICAN CARPET HEATER COMPANY, OF BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS, A COR PORATION- OF MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 29, 1907.

Application filed June 16, 1904. Serial N- 212 875- To all. whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEANDER 13. Conn, of-

Stoneham, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have lnven ted certain new and useful Improvements 1n Carpet- Cleaning Machines, of which the following is it is carried out substantially as illustrated on' the accompanying sheets of drawings,

which form an essential part of this specification, and whereon like characters of reference refer to like parts wherever they occur on the different parts thereof. I

On the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my im roved machine. Fig. 2 represents a longitur inal vertical section of the machine. Fig. 3 represents a plan view of the machine. Fig. 4 represents a cross-section on the horizontal lines A B shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 5 represents a cross-section on the horizontal lines C D shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The machine has a casing 1, which has its under side made open for a purpose to be understood by the complete description herein.- after contained. Within hearings in the casing are mounted rotating beaters, consisting of a drum or spindle 2, upon which are attached a number or series of flexible straps or cords 3, and which are caused by the action of the rapidly-rotating drum 2 to strike against the surface of the ca'rpet and thereby beat the dust and dirt from the carpet. The drums or spindles 2 extend through the casing to the outside of the same where they are provided with sprocketwheels or pulleys 4 or with other equivalent devices whereby a rotary motion may be imparted to the heaters. On the drawings I have illustrated the machine as being provided with two of the above-described rotary beaters.

A motor 5, which is preferably an electric motor, is mounted upon the machine in the most convenient position thereon, and said motor is supplied with current of electricity from any souce of electricity by means of the feed-wires 6 and 7 or by an other means. A rotary motion is imparte to a countershaft 8 on the machine through the medium of a belt or chain 9, and the respective sprocket-wheels or pulleys 10 and 11 on the motor and on the countenshaft.

The counter-shaft 8 is provided with one or more sprocket-wheels or pulleys 12, which carry belts or chains 13, which are also car-' ried by the sprocket wheels or chains on the beater-drums or spindles, and by which a rotary motion is imparted to said heaters from the counter-shaft. Each beater-drum or spindle may be driven by a separate belt or chain or all of the beaters may be driven by the same belt or chain, and I have illustrated the beater-drums as allbeing driven by the same belt or chain.

Exhaust-fans 14 are mounted upon the machine and have their inlet-passages 15 communicating with the interior of the cas ing 1. The driving-shaft which rotates the several exhaust-fans has a sprocket wheel or pulley 17 mounted upon it, which pulley carries a chain or belt 18, the opposite end of the chain or belt being carried by a sprocket wheel or pulley 19 firmly mounted uponthe counter-shaft 8.

The discharge portions or passages 20 of the several fans are in open communication with the interior of a bag or receptacle 21, which is made in whole or in part of fabric similar to and preferably from cotton cloth. When several fans are used on the machine, the open communication between all the discharges and the bag 21 is made by the insertion of a frame wlnch extends across the discharges of all of the fans. This frame is made in two parts, the portion 22 being permanently attached to the discharges of the fans and the portions 23 being permanently attached to the bag. These two portions of the frame are provided with means whereby they may be easily connected to each other or as easily disconnected, and by this means the bag and its attached portion of the frame ma be easily substituted by another bag an attached portion of the frame. In or-" loops on the bags, and-by this means the b is held in roper place.

4 he force 0' the air from the fans entering the bag ma have a tendency to move the lower end 0 the bag outward in the direction in which the air is being forced, and in order to revent this movement of the bag I provi e the machine with posts or standards 26, which are rigidly attached to the machine and receive rings 27, secured to the bag in the roper places to hold the ba against any ten ency to be moved outward y the air.

The casing l is )rovided with wheels 28, which are preferabfy secured near one end of the same, as shown on the drawin s,but on opposite 1 sides thereof. These w eels are firmlysecured to the casing and in such a position that they cause the casing to be raised slightly from the surface of the floor or the carpet upon which the wheels rest. The machine is also provided with a wheel 29, which is mounted within a holder 30, made adjustable up and down by means of the screw-threaded spindle 31 and the nuts 32 on said spindle, or in any other common and well-known manner. The wheels 28 and 29 are so located in relation to each other and to the casing that when the wheel 29 is adjusted up or down it will cause an adjustment of the opposite side of the casing to where the wheel 29 is located toward and from the floor, and

by this means the open under side of the casing may be raised more or less from the carpet, so as to give a more or less free access of the air from the room into the casing through its open under side.

The wheels 28 and 29 form means whereby the machine may be moved from place to place upon the floor or carpet, and when said Wheels are placed in the positions shown on the drawings, or out of the range of the open under side of the casin they allow the carpet to be raised from the floor by the action ,of the air flowing into said casing around the lower edge of the same. This tendency to raise the carpet, in connection with the action of the heaters tendin to force the carpet downward, will have the effect of vibrating thecarpet, allowing the dust and dirt to be drawn by movement of the fans 14 up from the carpet as the dirt and dust is beaten out by the beaters.

The operation of the machine is substantially as follows: A current of electricity having been supplied to the motor will cause the continuous rotation of its armature-shaft and by means of the belted connection between said armature-shaft and the counter-shaft will cause a continuous rotation of the counter-shaft, which, through the belted connections between the counter-shaft and the fan- 3 shaft and beater-spi ndles, will cause a continuous rotation of the fan-shaft and the beaters indies. The rotation of the beater-spinles will cause the flexible beaters to beat the 'carpet and the rotation of the fan-shaft will cause the rapid rotation of the fans and air to be drawn thereby into the casing through the space between the lower edge thereof and the carpet and at the same time will exhaust the dust-laden air from the interior of the casingthrough the fan-casing and force this dustladen air into the interior of the attached bag, where the heavy particles will drop to the bottom of the bag and the air will escape through the meshes of the fabric from which the bag is made, leavin the dust within the bag. The heavy partic es and any dust and dirt which does not stick to the sides of the bag will drop to the bottom of the bag free of the entrance which forms the communication between the bag and the discharge-passages from the fans. The machine is-ke t in motion and is moved from place to p ace upon the carpet until the entire carpet is beaten and the dust and dirt from the same is collected Within the bag, either at the bottom of the bag or against the sides of the same. If

the accumulation of the dust and dirt within the bag is suiiicient to interfere with the proper working of the machine by an improper filtration of the dust-laden air thereby, said bag may be removed from the machine and another bag may be substituted therefor, if so desired, or the accumulation of dust and dirt may be removed from the bag and the same bag be again placed in position upon the machine.

Any suitable handle 33 may be attached to the machine to assist in moving the machine from place to place, and I have shown the handle upon the drawings as being formed mostly from pipes or tubes, as such a construction would be both light and strong.

Having thus fully described the nature, construction, and the operation of my invention, I wish to secure by Letters Patent and to claim- 1. A carpet-eleaning machine comprising a casing having an open under side in combination with a plurality of flexible rotating beaters within the casing, secondary casings having open communication with the interior of the casing and having openings in their upper ends, a fan within each secondary casing, arms extending upward from the outer secondary casings, a bag supported by the detaching the bag from the openings in the secondary casings, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a carpet-cleaning machine, a casing having an open under side, shafts carried by the casing, two series of flexible beaters upon each shaft, the straps of one series of beaters on each shaft being alternately arranged with the straps of the other series of beaters on the same shaft, wheels 28 and- 29 for the casing, means for raising or lowering wheel 29 to adjust the casing and its heaters in contact with the floor, and means for withdrawing dirt and dust from the casing, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a carpet-cleaning machine, a casing having an open under side, rotating shafts carried by the casing, two series of flexible beaters upon each shaft within the casing, the straps of one series of beaters on each shaft being alternately arranged with the straps of the other series of beaters on the same shaft, a secondary casing having open communicationwith the interior of the casing and provided with an opening in its upper end, a fan Within the secondary casing, a bag carried by, detachably attached to, and communicating with the interior of the secondary casing'for holding the dirt withdrawn from the heaters, a motor, and means connecting the motor, beaters and fans for withdrawing dirt and dust from the casing and its beaters and carrying the same upward into the bag, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

V LEANDER B. COBB.

Witnesses:

HENRY CHADBOURN, Jos. W. FERGUSON. 

